Transcript
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The views and opinions expressed in Cold and Missing are exclusively those of the hosts.
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All parties mentioned are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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Cold and Missing also contains adult themes and languages.
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Listener discretion is advised.
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I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin-Sulkowski.
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And I'm your co-host, Eli Sulkowski.
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And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover cold cases and missing person cases.
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Hello everyone and welcome back to Cold and Missing.
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I'm your host, Ali.
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And I'm your co-host, Eli.
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Welcome back, everyone.
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I just wanted to say thank you at the top.
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This week we had an update on our podcast hosting website, but we were able to pull
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international reviews for the first time.
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And there are so many very kind reviews coming from all over the world that I was able to
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read for the first time.
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So thank you so much to everyone.
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It was overwhelming.
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Yeah, I really enjoyed listening to them.
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Ali read them off to me.
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And they just bring us so much joy to hear back from y'all, to know that you're listening,
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and to know that you're just upholding what Cold and Missing is all about, which is getting
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these cases out there and getting some name recognition around them.
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So yeah, it's great to hear from y'all.
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But I thought we would just go ahead and jump into this week's case.
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We are on episode 121 this week, and we are on a cold case.
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All right, let's do it.
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So just as a bit of a content warning at the top, this case does have mentions of sexual
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assault.
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Today, we are talking about the cold case of Terri Marie Howell.
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And this takes place in July of 1980 in Knoxville, Kentucky.
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But first, a little bit about Terri.
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Terri is 24 years old in 1980.
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She's a single mom to a young four-year-old boy, Kenny.
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Terri and her young son live with her mother in Owensboro, Kentucky.
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Growing up, Terri was the only girl with four brothers.
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She was tough, but also the sweetest person you could ever meet, according to her family
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and friends.
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Those that knew her and loved her said that she was even-tempered and didn't want to
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trouble anyone.
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She was a really sweet woman and a wonderful mother.
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And now, a timeline of events.
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On Thursday, July 24, 1980, it's unclear exactly what Terri was getting up to throughout
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the day.
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But what we do know is in the evening hours, her and a girlfriend, Janice, decided to go
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out dancing.
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Thursday night turned into an early Friday morning, July 25.
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Now there are some things that are kind of unclear in this case, and one of those things
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is if Terri and Janice were bar hopping that evening or if they spent all night in one
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location.
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It sounds like to me that they were bar hopping, kind of going place to place, but the girls
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did not have a car on this evening out.
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Eventually, the two of them end up at the Hasty Tasty.
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The Hasty Tasty was packed with activity.
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This was a popular spot since it did have a 24-hour kitchen.
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Several bars and nightclubs are in the area that kept the Hasty Tasty busy.
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They also had their own dance floor so the good times could keep rolling.
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So again, the girls could have spent all night here or they could have just ended up here.
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To me, it does seem like this is the last spot that they wanted to go so that way they
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could grab a bite to eat.
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Another thing that I had trouble pinning down is the exact timing of events.
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So back in 1980 when this was originally being reported, the next sequence of events was
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said to happen between 2.30am and about 3am.
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However, now when the story is reported, this time shifts to around 1am.
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So this sequence of events is all the same, but there could be some discrepancy in the
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timing.
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For me personally and for the sake of the timeline today, I'm going to go back to what
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was originally reported in the 1980s and use that timing, but just keep that in mind that
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there could be some variation in these times, but the sequence of events appears to be correct.
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So at around 2.45, Terri and her friend order food at the Hasty Tasty.
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It's here that Terri starts talking to a man.
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He's a white man in his late teens or early 20s, around 5 foot 10 with a slender build.
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Terri and the man talk about people that they both know in Ohio County, Kentucky.
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That's where Terri had gone to high school and these two seem to know some of the same
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people, but it seems that Terri did not know this man before this night.
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As 3am rolled around, Terri’s friend Janice gets up from the table to go use a payphone.
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They were ready to head home, but neither one of them had a car.
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They had been dropped off for their night out.
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When Janice calls their ride, the phone line is busy.
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She hangs up, waits a few minutes, and tries again.
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She still gets the busy signal.
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So she heads back to the table to tell Terri that their ride didn't pick up.
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It's at this point that the man that Terri had been talking to offers them a ride home.
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The two decide to take it.
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Around 3am, Terri, Janice, and the man were seen getting into a light or pale blue two-door
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Ford sedan, possibly a 1965 or 1966 model.
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The girls got into the car and as soon as the doors were shut, the car sped out of the
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parking lot.
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To take the girls home, the car should have turned right out of the parking lot, but instead
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he took a left.
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The man eventually gets on US 60 and is heading out of town.
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The two women try to let him know that he was going the wrong way.
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When he ignores them, they start screaming at him.
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He continues to ignore them and keeps driving the wrong way.
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At the intersection of Kentucky 144 and Reed Road, Janice, who was sitting on the passenger
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side, jumped out of the moving car.
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There was another car right behind them that had to swerve to not hit her as she came out
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of the vehicle.
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The other car didn't stop and the car with Terri and the man didn't stop either.
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Janice wasn't seriously hurt when she fell, but she was pretty banged up.
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She had to walk about a mile to a payphone to call her sister to pick her up.
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She goes to the hospital to get her cuts and scrapes cleaned, but Janice doesn't alert
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anyone about Terri until later.
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About 12 hours later, so it's still Friday, July 25th.
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Around 4.30 in the afternoon, a volunteer firefighter notices smoke coming from an abandoned
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farmhouse on the Cammie Nicks farm.
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The farmhouse was just outside of Knoxville, Kentucky on Free Silver Road.
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When firefighters arrive at the scene and put out the fire, they discover Terri’s
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body had been badly burned inside.
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The killer had brought Terri’s body into the abandoned farmhouse and placed her on
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a mattress on the floor.
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Pieces of paper and cardboard box were piled around her head and paper was placed near
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her feet.
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A match had been used to light the fire.
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Police are called and they begin to process the scene.
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Foul play is immediately suspected.
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Police also pick up on a trail, a trail of discarded items of Terri’s starting with
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her shirt that was about 100 feet from the farmhouse.
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One of Terri’s shoes, her pants, some medicine, and her empty purse were all found along Kentucky
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1389, which leads to Hawesville, Kentucky.
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Her purse was the only item actually found in Hancock County.
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All these items are processed, but police are not able to lift a fingerprint.
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On Saturday, July 26th, Terri’s autopsy is conducted.
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Ultimately, the medical examiner determines that Terri was already dead when the fire
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was lit.
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In addition, they're able to rule out most causes of death except for strangulation or
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suffocation.
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Police suspect she died of one of these too.
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It's not revealed until years later, but the autopsy also confirms that Terri had been
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sexually assaulted.
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The medical examiner sends samples for testing to complete the report, but after the physical
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autopsy is complete, Terri is buried that evening as a Jane Doe.
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As her mother will say years later, quote, they didn't even wait three days, end quote.
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That same night, Terri’s mother had been increasingly worried about her daughter.
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She never came home after she went out on Thursday, which was very unlike her.
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And she felt uneasy after she saw that a dead body was found in Knoxville.
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After not being able to get a hold of her daughter, she calls the police to report her
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missing.
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As news spreads that Terri is missing, Janice comes forward to police to tell them what
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happened to her.
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Once police get Terri’s name, they use dental records to confirm that it was her body inside
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the farmhouse.
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They also ask her family and friends to confirm that the blouse that they found was hers as
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well, which they do.
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On Sunday, July 27th, police confirm that the body she saw in the news was in fact her
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daughter's.
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Her mother gets to work arranging a grave side service since Terri had already been laid
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to rest.
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On Tuesday, July 29th, police say that they do not have a suspect, but have interviewed
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several people on the case.
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Police do believe that Terri was killed not long after her friend jumped out of the car.
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It is likely that the killer drove around with her body in his car looking for a place
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to get rid of it.
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On Thursday, July 31st, police hold a press conference.
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They release a sketch of a man that gave Terri9 and her friend Janice a ride.
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Police announce that they would like to talk to the man, and that while at this time he
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hadn't done anything wrong, they need to clear him as part of their investigation.
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Police are also asking that the person who was driving behind them when Janice jumped
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out of the car to please call police.
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They stress that the driver is not in trouble, that they just want to know what they saw.
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Police believe that the man lives in Ohio County since he knew so many of the same people
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as Terri from Ohio County.
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They also scour Hancock County since this is where the trail of Terri’s belongings
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was headed.
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They believe that he tossed the items out of the car while he was driving east on Kentucky
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1389.
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Once police release the composite sketch, lots of tips come through, but nearly a week
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later on Wednesday, August 6th, it's been 12 days since Terri’s murder and none of
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the tips have led to anything.
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Sheriff Harold Taylor says, quote, We've checked out 64 people, but silch, end quote.
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Later in August, the lab results come back from Terri’s autopsy.
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She had no drugs in her system and barely had any alcohol.
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Police say that it was likely she had one beer several hours before her murder, but
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that was it.
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After this, Terri’s case appears to go cold.
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The next update is in April of 1983, so it's been almost three years since Terri was murdered.
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Terri’s mother believes that she had been killed due to revenge.
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She says, quote, It had to be revenge, but for what?
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I don't know.
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That's the one that bothers me the most about the murder, end quote.
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Police also say that Janice had been questioned thoroughly by police.
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She had passed two polygraph tests, two psychological stress evaluations, and had been hypnotized.
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Through all of this testing, police feel confident that she is telling the truth.
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That's how we have so many details about that night.
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In 2004, so it's been 24 years since Terri’s murder, and her son is grown and starting
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his own family at this time.
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His wife Penny also takes up Terri case.
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Penny says, quote, We're still holding out hope.
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We've talked and wonder if the whole story will come out.
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We don't think it's just a random act.
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We think there's more to it, end quote.
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In 2009, so it's been 29 years, and police announced that they are reopening the case
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in hopes of finally closing it.
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With the evolution of DNA, police are now looking to see if they have any options to
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test evidence that they have for DNA.
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Police are hoping that if they are able to pull a DNA profile, that the suspect would
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likely already be in the database from another crime.
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Police also asked for the public's help.
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A detective working the case says, quote, What we're hoping is anyone who may have
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been around the hasty-tasty on July 24th and 25th, who may know anything about what happened
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to Terri Howell.
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We're hoping one person's information might be enough to bust this case wide open
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for us.
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We certainly like to have justice prevail, and for the family's sake also.
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In 2015, it's been 35 years since Terris murder, and Terris mother still holds out
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hopes for answers.
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But she is forced to face the reality of her situation.
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She says, quote, 40-year-old murders are solved, but I get the feeling this is not going to
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be.
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End quote.
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Terri’s mother passed away in 2021 without knowing who killed her daughter and why.
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Terri’s son, Kenny, and her daughter-in-law, Penny, have gotten a divorce, but Penny still
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champions Terri’s case.
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She wants to keep the case in the media for her children, Terri grandchildren, who
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she never got to meet, but also for Terri’s mother, who had worked so hard on the case.
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But that is all we know about the murder of Terri Howell.
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So if you know anything about the murder of Terri Howell in July of 1980, please call
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the Davis County Sheriff's Office at 270-685-8444.
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So that is the case of Terri Marie Howell.
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I loved hearing that Terri was so kind and sweet and caring and gentle as she was and
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came from a family of four brothers.
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I have a big family, so I understand the dynamic a little bit.
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But I don't know, I love that she came from a big family of brothers.
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Yeah, I thought that was a fun detail.
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And I thought I told a lot about Terri , actually.
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Anyone who has a lot of brothers but is the only girl kind of knows what it's like.
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So I enjoyed that fact about her as well.
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She was also a mother and a single mother.
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I know people who are single parents and they are the hardest working people I know and
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the most exhausted.
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And they're incredible people.
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And she sounded the same.
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And I'm so sad that her son was robbed of a mother because he so deeply deserved that.
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And everyone in her life, she should be here.
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Yeah, I think something that broke my heart in a way that I didn't expect in this case
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is that Terri was headed out for a girls night, it felt like, a night to have fun, to dance.
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And I wonder if she had a lot of nights like that, like you said, a single mom.
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This was likely a treat for her.
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So the fact that it went as horrible as a night out can go, that's heartbreaking in
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and of itself because this should have just been a fun, joyous, carefree night for her.
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Yeah, all women deserve that when they go out at night.
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All people deserve that.
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But it's just extra heartbreaking because she probably didn't get the chance to go out
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very often.
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And since we're talking about her going out, the first thing I wrote down about the timeline
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was just the actual time that they were out.
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And it sounded so late to me.
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And I feel, I know I'm not old, but I feel so old when I say that midnight is super late.
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The times that they were out, I know those times to be that nothing good is happening.
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You know, nothing good happens after 12am.
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And as you started to share the timeline, unfortunately, I feel like I could sense where
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it was heading.
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Yeah, the timeline, again, is one of those tricky things.
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In 1980, it's reported this was all kind of happening around 3am.
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Today it said it happened around 1am.
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So while two hours doesn't feel like a ton of time, at that hour, it does feel like a
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lot.
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Like 1am feels way different than 3am.
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At the part of the timeline when the women have left the bar and it's around 2.45am,
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could you circle back on what those details are?
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Yeah, so Terri and Janice were seen in the parking lot.
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This was happening in 1980.
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It was reported around 3am, getting into a light or pale blue two door Ford sedan.
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So it was Terri, Janice, and then the guy from inside the hasty-tasty.
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Something I immediately thought when you were talking about the conversation that Terri
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was having with this guy that she didn't know, but supposedly they had a lot of people in
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common, I was very suspicious.
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And I just assumed that he was probably lying to create a sense of safety between the two.
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If he could echo her and say enough about, oh, do you know so and so, and he could improvise
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a little bit, I think because of the time, it's late, you're tired, I know they weren't
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drinking a ton, but still it's the middle of the night.
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If he's saying he knows the people that she is saying that she knows, who is she to assume
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that he's lying?
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There's no Facebook, there's no cell phones.
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I assumed that it was a tactic to create safety so he could eventually do what he did.
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Yeah, I thought about that as well with the guy basically just echoing back whatever she
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would say or just giving vague enough details that they could apply to anybody.
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Because it seems like if they really did have people in common, at some point they should
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have been able to find this guy in the hasty-tasty that gave them the ride.
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It feels like they could have gone through her graduating class through that high school
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and shown everybody the composite sketch, like, do you know this person?
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Maybe that was done and it led nowhere, but it feels like if they really did have acquaintances
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in common, somebody would have made a connection with the suspect, Terri , how they would all
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know each other.
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So that's kind of my thoughts on that.
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What happens afterwards, after they have their conversation with him, is truly the stuff
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of nightmares.
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And it will never not shock me that people commit crimes like this.
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I do have a question about Janice and this isn't to place any blame or point fingers.
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I'm just curious if you knew why she waited.
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I don't know why Janice waited to go to police.
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I assume she was just in a state of shock and, you know, I try not to pass judgment
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on folks who maybe were just coming out of a really terrifying situation.
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But at the same time, I do recognize that it's like, why didn't she go?
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I, you know, there's this anguish of like, oh, like, ugh.
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But at the same time, I try to leave enough room in my head and heart that she had just
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gone through something really crazy, too.
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Yeah, ultimately, all anger can be, you know, funneled back to the person who committed
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this crime, because it shouldn't have happened.
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For sure, because it's like, how dare he even put these women in that position to begin
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with?
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I don't enjoy continuing to segue more into the mistreatment of women in this case, or
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of Terri , but her being buried three days after her body was found, maybe it's because
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I don't understand the laws at the time, but still that it feels even even if those
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were the laws at the time, they shouldn't have been.
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Yeah, it was actually less than three days.
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So they found Terri’s
If you know anything about the murder of Terri Howell in July of 1980, please call the Daviess County Sheriff’s office at 270-685-8444
body on a Friday, her autopsy was done Saturday morning and she
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was buried Saturday evening.
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So almost in the span of 24 hours of her body being found, she was laid to rest.
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And yeah, that's one of those things.
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I don't know exactly why that was done.
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I don't know if it, like you said, it was the law at the time, but it seems almost callous
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in how fast to not even give families the opportunity to maybe come forward and claim
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her.
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I don't, that was shocking.
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In all of my research in these cases, I've never seen a burial happen that fast.
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Something else that I also found surprising was the treatment of Janice afterwards.
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And I understand that due diligence needs to happen, but from my understanding, you
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know, she was covered in scrapes and bruises and had gone to the hospital and she told
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them.
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So I, I'm just kind of confused as to why she was what seemed like to me for a moment
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pretty deeply investigated.
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I just wanted to know your thoughts on that.
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With Janice, I think that maybe police leaned into, you know, the fact that it took her,
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you know, like a day to come forward with what happened to her.
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And even maybe the fact that she was covered in cuts and scrapes made them think that maybe
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she wasn't telling the truth about what happened that night.
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Maybe she had been involved in some way.
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I'm sure the thought crossed their mind.
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But I feel like when she passed the two polygraph tests, she would have been in the clear.
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I'm not exactly sure what the stress tests would have revealed or not revealed or what
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that was telling police and why they did too.
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But I also think that maybe once they got to hypnosis, they were just trying to maybe
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pull out extra details from that night.
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Or maybe, you know, it just seems like something out of a movie, you know, a horror movie that
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they were like, this can't be the truth.
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But here she is under hypnosis saying the same thing.
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So, you know, I would be curious into their thought process for everything.
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And, you know, when Janice turned from a suspect to a source of information and a witness.
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The other thing that I thought that kept coming back to my mind on this case was the second
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driver.
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It seems to me and in my research that police never found the person who was driving behind
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them that saw Janice and, you know, swerved to miss her.
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To me, that is something that you would very much remember.
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And it would be a noticeable event in your life even all these years later.
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So, I really hope that this person does come forward eventually just to say what they know.
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But it also makes me wonder maybe why they haven't come forward.
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Were they involved in some way?
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Like it really makes you wonder why somebody would not come forward to police in this situation.
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But that's a detail I keep coming back to was that other driver and just why wouldn't
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they come forward.
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But in this case, I really hope that we're able to get Terri’s name out there and drum
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up more interest in this case.
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You know, her daughter-in-law is doing a wonderful job at that and has really taken charge of
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the case and keeping it in the local media.
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But hopefully police are able to continue to review the evidence, see if DNA can be
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tested, if anything can be tested for DNA.
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I even wonder those items that were thrown like, you know, touch DNA, like is that available
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for these things?
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And if not today, hopefully, you know, soon, six months, a year, five years, whatever it
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takes, I hope we get answers in this case.
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But if you know anything about the murder of Terri Howell in July of 1980, please call
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the Davis County Sheriff's Office at 270-685-8444.
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And we will have pictures of Terri and the suspect sketch up on our Instagram at Cold
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and Missing.
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If you're not following us, please follow us there.
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We like to keep you updated there.
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It's the fastest way for us to update you all at Cold and Missing will pop right up.
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Like I said at the top, thank you so much for all the kind reviews.
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And now I can read all the international reviews out there.
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So if you have the time today, tomorrow, this week, if you can leave us a written review,
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five stars wherever you're at, we appreciate every rate, every review, every like, every
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subscribe, all of that.
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So thank you for doing that.
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And thank you because it helps the podcast.
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It gets other people to listen to it and it gets these cases out there.
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And if you're looking for other cases that we've covered, you can go to our website www.coldandmissing.com
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where they're all there.
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And if you need a transcript because you or your loved one is hard of hearing, you can
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find the official transcripts there as well.
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But that's all I have for you this week.
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Thank you so much for listening to Cold and Missing.
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I'm your host Allie.
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And I'm your co-host Eli.
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Have a good week and stay safe y'all.
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Stay safe y'all.
